Abstract/Summary

Despite recent interest in the construct of language learner agency, our understanding of the dynamic interplay between learners, instructors, technologies, activities, and resources through which agency emerges remains limited. This project investigated a study unit (SDLU) targeting self-directed language learning at a Japanese university. Operating at the intersection of classroom-based instruction and language learning beyond the classroom (LLBC), SDLU provided a fertile environment for examining conditions that facilitate or constrain agency. Conducted as a practitioner research case study of 14 learners, the investigation drew on multiple sources of data including observation, a teacher journal, learners’ written reflections, and stimulated recall interviews. Agency was operationalised in terms of how learners aligned their learning behaviours with their feelings, beliefs, and volitions as they interacted with SDLU. The study aimed to uncover the processes through which this alignment occurred, or failed to occur, and thereby the extent to which agency was stifled or enhanced for particular learners. Data were investigated through thematic content analysis, employing both inductive and deductive coding. Five overarching themes – feeling, exploring, reflecting, regulating, and relating – emerged as pivotal in shaping participants’ agency. Although the intricate interplay between these themes in individual cases highlighted the complexity of the agency construct, relating was particularly associated with agency enhancement. For example, learners who prioritised using English for real-world purposes were more likely to engage in LLBC than those who focused on studying the language itself. While the former uncovered multiple learning affordances and reported positive emotions in relation to language learning, the latter often seemed unable to move beyond methodologies internalised at school which were poorly suited to their learning objectives. The findings have important implications regarding strategies for enhancing language learner agency and support recent claims that agency may best be characterised as relational rather than individual in nature.